Chapter 5 – The Great Grandpa

I woke up slowly, with the strange feeling of being lifted. My eyes opened gradually, and I soon saw a blurry face watching me. I was startled and, with all my strength, tried to escape, but he held me as if I weighed nothing. My eyes filled with tears as I realized I wouldn’t be able to get away.

— "I don’t want to be food, nor a slave… I’ve seen too many slaves die yesterday…"

But it seemed he didn’t understand what I said, because all that came out of my mouth was a mumble and a bit of crying. Then, he started rocking me gently, trying to calm me down. My vision stabilized, and I finally recognized the face from last night. It was the same as the one on the file I saw before falling asleep.

I was shocked. Quickly, I opened the shop and checked my money.

— "790… Ahhh, did I buy him?! Why do I always mess up before going to sleep?!"

Suddenly, I heard his voice. It was deep, like a radio announcer’s, and his speech sounded almost like singing. I was impressed, which calmed me down a little. As soon as I relaxed, he grabbed a strange shell and brought it to my mouth. Inside was a black, pasty liquid that smelled like fish. I made the most disgusted face I could and tried to escape again, but once again, I failed.

— "Come on, drink. It’s for your own good. I don’t have any milk to give you."

I turned my face and tried to escape again, but in the end, he forced me to swallow the stuff. The awful taste lingered in my mouth all morning, and my expression was one of pure disgust. If looks could kill, that shark would be dead by now. Noticing my bad mood, he tried to joke with me to cheer me up, but I didn’t give in, which frustrated him.

At noon, he went hunting. As soon as I had a moment alone, I bought a baby bottle and drank to get rid of the awful taste. After finishing, I burped and my anger started to calm down. I lay down on my makeshift bed, made of my own tears and the shell of my egg.

— "It might be bizarre, but it’s comfortable, and that’s what matters."

Bored, I decided to take a nap in the afternoon. But then I noticed a little mischief approaching directly toward my tail to pinch it. Without thinking twice, I grabbed it and put it in my mouth. My mouth wasn’t big enough to swallow it whole, but I still held it there. And suddenly, a sweet taste filled my mouth.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

— "I don’t care if it’s a crab, what matters is that it’s sweet."

[+1 Defense]

I was shocked for a moment, but then, Krahs returned with a large fish. I looked at him, still with the crab in my mouth, and saw the shark emerging from the water like a model in a commercial, coming up perfectly. As soon as he saw me, he laughed.

— "Haha, still hungry? Little one, you won’t be able to open that crab."

He sat by the pool, placed the fish on the ground, extended his hands, and grabbed me with one of them. With the other, he tried to take the crab out of my mouth. Quickly, I thought: how do babies get what they want?

A light bulb went off in my head. And then, I started crying as loudly as I could. Krahs, realizing he had messed up, quickly put the crab back in my mouth.

— "Okay, okay, keep the crab."

I stopped crying immediately. I kept tasting the sweetness while hearing my defense points rise.

— "I don’t know what’s so good about that…"

He poked my chubby cheek with his finger and then put me back in the egg shell. He grabbed the dead fish and, with a sharp shell, started to cut and clean it. Curious, I propped myself up on the egg shell with my little hands to see what he was doing.

— "So curious, just like… like… hahaha…"

Suddenly, his strange laugh was replaced by a sad expression.

— "Maybe I’m just trying to replace them… Taking care of a baby who isn’t even mine… Pathetic… If I had been a better father… If I were…"

He sighed, looking sad. I didn’t quite understand, but I tilted my head to the side, trying to look like a cute baby, maybe to comfort him a little. Then, his large wet hand, smelling of fish, rested on my head and messed up my little hair.

— "Little fish… I don’t know if you understand me or if you’ll remember what I’m going to say, but…"

With a sad look, he lay down on the sand, watching me.

— "My children won’t come back… and neither will your parents."

I kind of already figured that out. After all, I didn’t see anyone else in this nest besides the girl from the tutorial.

— "I’ll take care of you. Even though I’m still sad about my children, I won’t abandon a baby alone in this sea for a pointless revenge. She won’t bring anyone back… Remember: we shouldn’t fight to avenge the dead, but to protect the living. Just hold on to the moments we had with them, good or bad… They’re all we have left of them. The sadness will pass, but the memories will stay alive in our hearts."

Those words hit me hard. The wound I was trying to ignore opened wide. Tears streamed from my eyes like little waterfalls. I no longer had the strength to hold the crab in my mouth. Noticing that, the big shark picked me up, gave me a shoulder to cry on, and gently patted my back.

— "So, I guess I’m your family from now on… Well, you need a name. From now on, you’ll be Nexha… Ne, in my tribe’s language, means restart… and Xha means tears… Haha, you’re too young to understand the meaning, and I don’t think anyone from my tribe is left to tell you… A restart among tears for me… But for you, it will be the start of a smile."

After that, I don’t remember how much I cried. But I fell asleep, exhausted from all the crying.